Speculative Fiction or Science Fiction

As a writer of Science Fiction adventures I often find myself butting up against debates about Hard Science Fiction versus Speculative Science Fiction. The argument usually goes something like: If it violates science as we know it now, it can’t be Science Fiction. By this definition, most of the Science Fiction I’ve read over the years is, in fact, Speculative Fiction.

Truth be said, I usually tune out at this point. Real science involves a level of speculation, the generation of theory, the testing thereof, often over an extended period of time, and often after many rabbit trails have been explored.

I write Science Fiction Adventure that leans towards Space Opera in scope in a universe where core technology is based upon a simple speculative premise: What if gravity (or, at least, the forces we now think of as gravity) has a bigger effect on things such as the speed of light than our science now believes.

Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

In my universe, the Voyager probes would even now be sending us material that will one day leave scientists open mouthed at what it’s done to their notions of how the universe works in much the same way Relativity blew a hole in Newtonian physics by adding whole new dimentions to our understanding.

This is all part of the fun and allure of being a Science Fiction writer, and I am not about to give it up to conform to some present day idea of what constitutes real Science Fiction.